Hareidi Who Was Charged With Harassment Blames the Media

Shlomo Fuchs, who allegedly called a female soldier “harlot” and was charged with sexual harassment, blames the media for the incident.

By Elad Benari, Canada

First Publish: 12/30/2011, 10:17 PM

Shlomo Fuchs

Flash 90

Shlomo Fuchs, the hareidi-religious man who allegedly called a female soldier “harlot” and was charged with sexual harassment, slammed the Israeli “secular media” on Friday and said the accusations against him were exaggerated.

Speaking to a Channel 2 News crew as he arrived in the Jerusalem District Court on Friday morning, Fuchs said, “There is a biased conduct against the hareidi-religious population. I am being attacked because I’m religious; the charges against me were exaggerated over things that never happened.”

He added that the female soldier he allegedly called a harlot is the one who caused the verbal confrontation between the two.

The incident occurred when female soldier Doron Matalon boarded the 49 bus in Jerusalem and was asked by Fuchs to move to the back of the bus because it is segregated. When she refused, she said, Fuchs allegedly called her a bad name.

Police reportedly awaited Fuchs at a bus station a short time after the soldier called them. He was charged with sexual harassment 24 hours later, and the court on Friday decided to release him to his home.

“The secular media is working against us, trying to exclude us and we will stop this once and for all,” Fuchs told the cameras.

Meanwhile, Channel 2 reported, a huge protest is being planned in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood on Saturday night. The report said thousands of hareidim are expected to arrive for the protest and demonstrate against what is being described as “exclusion of hareidim.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)